Microsoft confirms GitHub acquisition: Developers' viewpoints

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Now we’ve received confirmation of Microsoft’s acquisition of GitHub, we’ve gathered some views of developers around the web.

GitHub is quite universally beloved in the developer community, but the same cannot quite be said for Microsoft. The company remains divisive; with many either being fans, or believing it’s poison to all it touches.

Looking at the declining popularity of some of Microsoft’s past acquisitions from once-great companies — like Skype, Nokia, and Wunderlist — it’s not hard to see why some have such concerns.

Since rumours of the acquisition began circulating, GitHub alternative GitLab has seen a huge peak in developers using its import tool. This suggests many are jumping ship.

Of course, that’s been appropriately memed:

But some believe it’s as much bluster as the #DeleteFacebook campaign which followed the controversy between Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.

Few of those who hate Microsoft provide recent reasons. Under the stewardship of CEO Satya Nadella, many have praised the company’s efforts as of late — especially with regards to open source.

In fact, of 1.5 million organisations on GitHub, Microsoft has the most contributors to its repos — so it has a vested interest in keeping it successful:

There’s also the strength of Microsoft’s long-standing developer tools to consider:

As for its recent acquisitions, under Nadella they’ve fared much better. The company’s acquisition of LinkedIn raised similar levels of concerns to what we’re hearing about GitHub, but — for better or worse — little has changed.

Another developer ponders what GitHub would be like if other technology giants acquired it:

Microsoft confirmed the rumours in a blog post published on Monday, adding GitHub will be led by Nat Friedman, CEO and founder of Xamarin. Nadella wrote that Microsoft will be "committed to being stewards of the GitHub community, which will retain its developer-first ethos, operate independently and remain an open platform."

Undoubtedly, developers will continue having strong opinions about this controversial acquisition. Only time will tell whether it was good or bad for GitHub and its users.

What are your thoughts on Microsoft’s acquisition of GitHub? Let us know in the comments.

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TrevorJ
9 Jun 2018, 10:24 a.m.

Actually Microsoft never shows its cards immediately. Their investment in OpenSource and GitHub might have just been a clever way of tricking developers into thinking that they care. Having this thought even as a possibility says enough about how the company behaved in the past.

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